Interdisciplinary Longitudinal Surveys. Linking Individual Data to Organizational Data in Life-Course Analysis

Abstract

This paper starts with three fundamental insights from social science and economics: (1) that the conditions and consequences of individual behavior can only be studied empirically on the basis of longitudinal data, (2) that individual behavior is embedded in social contexts and social aggregates, and (3) that formal organizations – e.g., firms, schools, universities – are becomming more important for individual life courses. From this, it follows that social and economic research needs a data infrastructure which provides information on individuals over time and on the organizations those individuals are associated with. In the last nine years, there have been major efforts to provide scientific communities with linked individual-firm data in Germany. However, the available datasets comprise only limited information on individuals and organizations and provide no information on the household level. As the latter is becoming more important – e.g., in generating social inequalities – the existing data-stock should be complemented by longitudinal data linking individuals, their households, their firms, and other organizations they are members in. The recommendation is to enhance the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP, Soziooekonomisches Panel) with information from the firms the household members are presently employed in. Such a dataset can be useful for a wide range of social and economic research areas and would be unique on an international level.